Exercise club



Patented Mar. l2, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EXERCISE CLUB Louis A. Benecke, St. Louis, Mo.

Application April 18, 1945, Serial No. 589,020

3 Claims.

This invention relates to exercise clubs, and more particularly to a club which will enable the user to obtain special advantages of exercise and good health enjoyed by those who adhere to the rules for swinging golf clubs. Relatively few persons nd it possible to obtain such advantages by playing golf at frequent intervals. Therefore, one of my objects is to create a special device, as a substitute for most convenient use in a home, oliice, or other places, having the exercise advantages obtained by a skilled golfer. Exercise of this kind, when adhered to in accordance with the golfing rules, provides for movements of almost every muscle in the body.

More specifically stated an object is to produce a simple exercise club including a centrifugally controlled signaling device whereby the user is positively informed of improper exercise strokes. Before using the new club, a person is given instructions as to details of the special movements of his body, including hands and feet, required for successful performance of numerous actions which will result in the desired exercise. A beginner will find it diicult to follow the instructions. However, the centrifugally controlled signaling device will advise him of errors in the most diicult phases of his procedure, and there.. by enable him to experiment until he learns just how to produce the desired swings.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention comprises the novel combination and arrangement of details herein described and shown in the accompanying drawing. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention extends to variations and modifications described by terms of the claims hereunto appended.

Fig. 1 is a side view of an exercise club embodying features of this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, showing a signaling device in a weight at the lower end of the club.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

To illustrate one form of the invention, I have shown an exercise club having an elongated handie 4 at the top, long enough to receive both hands located within the weight 6 and it -comprises a signaling device 1 loosely arranged between separated abutments and movable to strike one of said abutments to produce audible signals. These abutments may be formed in any suitable manner.

To illustrate one form of the invention, I have shown a Sleeve 8 attached to the lower end of said shaft 5 by means of pins 9 and I0. These pins extend through the shaft 5 and also through a cylindrical cage II, so as to securely anchor the cage to the lower end of the shaft 5. The upper portion of the cylindrical cage Il surrounds the sleeve 8, but the lower portion of said cage lies entirely below this sleeve and also below the bottom of the shaft 5, so as to form an extended pocket for the loose signaling device 'I. The cage II is in longitudinal alinement with the shaft 5. As shown in Fig. 2, the weight 6 may be provided with an internal shoulder seated on the top of said cage to limit outward displacement of the weight, and this weight may be cemented to the cage.

In this form of the invention the signaling device 'I is a loose ball confined between a lower abutment I2 at the bottom of the cage, and an upper abutment I3 at the top of the cage. This upper abutment I3 may be formed by the bottom of the shaft 5, or in any other suitable manner. The lower abutment I2 may be provided with an opening I4 as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be readily understood that the ball 1 will remain in silent contact with the lower abutvment I2 when the club is quickly swung in arcs of circles. This silent contact with the lower abutment I2 is due to centrifugal force and gravity, whereby the confined ball is retained in silent contact with the abutment I2 most remote from the handle of the club. In fact, the club may be given a haphazard swing in a complete circle, with the result of maintaining the ball I in silent contact with said lower abutment I2.

However, the silent contact due to haphazard swinging would fail to accomplish the results of the present invention. To obtain the most benefcial healthful advantages from his exercise, the user should'be informed of the proper strokes, and educated for successful use of the club. Rapid swinging of the new club will retain the weight in silent contact with the lower abutment I2, but after the club rises to a plane above the horizontal, Aa decrease in the speed of the swing may allow said weight 'l to drop by gravity and strike the abutment I3, thereby giving an audible signal to the user. An improper swing of the club will result in this signal.

Special advantages appear in exercise of almost every muscle in the body and limbs when the device is employed without an audible signal.

With the left hand nearest the top of the club, swinging slowly to right and left, both arms fully extended, a person will naturally pivot, rising first on the toe of theleft foot when swinging tothe right and toe of right foot when swinging to the left. This practice is slowly followed, increasing the arc until the person reaches an arc wherein the club is slightly above a horizontal position. The user will then hear an audible click. After this preliminary study, the user will remember the position of his improper swing. He will then rapidly cock his wrists just before reaching that point, bending his right arm nearthe body, while keeping the left arm straight but not uncomfortable, and continue to a full back swing, without any audible signal from the club.

When these strokes of the body and wrists are properly timed, there will be no audible signal. However, when the user fails to make a perfect swing, the loose member 1 will contact with the upper abutment I3, so as to produce the educational signal.

1. An exercise club comprising a shaft having a handle at one end, a weight rigidly secured to the opposite end, and a centrifugally controlled signaling means located in said rigidly secured weight to indicate improper exercise strokes, said signaling means comprising separated upper and lower abutments within said weight, and an audible signaling device loosely arranged between said abutments and movable to strike the upper abutment to produce the audible signal, said signaling device being loosely seated on said lower abutment, the lower abutment being most remote from the handle to provide for normal silent contact with the loose signaling device in response to the influence of gravity and centrifugal force, the upper abutment beingnearer to the handle for audible contact with said loosely arranged signaling device during an improper swing of the club lacking the expected centrifugal force. 2. An exercise club comprising a shaft having a handle at one end, a weight at the opposite end, and centrifugally controlled signaling means located in said weight to indicate improper exercise strokes, said signaling means comprising a cage attached to said shaft, the weight being provided with an internal shoulder seated on the top of said cage to limit outward displacement of the weight, a signaling device loosely confined within said cage, the said cagebeing provided with a lower abutment most remote from the handle, said signaling device being normally seated on said lower abutment to provide for normal silent contact with the loose signaling device in response to the influence of gravity and centrifugal force, and an upper abutment nearer to the handle for audible Contact with said loose signaling device ink response to an improper swing of the club.

3. An exercise club comprising a shaft having a handle at one end, a weight at the opposite end, and a centrifugally controlled signaling means located in and surrounded by said weight to indicate improper exercise strokes, said signaling means comprising separated upper and lower abutments within said weight, and an audible signaling member loosely arranged between said abutments and' movable to strike the upper abutment to produce the audible signal, said signaling member being normally seated on the lower abutment, said lower abutment being mostv remote from the handle to provide for normal silent contact with the loose signaling member in response to the influence of gravity and centrifugal force. the upper abutment being nearer to the handle for audible contact with said loosely arranged signaling member during an improper swing of the club lacking the expected centrifugal force. LOUIS A. BENECKE. 

